Nevada death penalty foes hail Supreme Court ruling

Tuesday, March 1, 2005 | 9:09 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Death penalty foes hailed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that bars the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. That includes Michael Domingues, on Nevada's death row for a double murder in Las Vegas.

The 5-4 decision, affecting Nevada and 18 other states, throws out the death sentences of about 70 juvenile murderers and bars states from seeking to execute minors for future capital crimes. Justices said such executions amount to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill to prohibit such executions, and Michael Pescetta, an assistant federal defender who specializes in capital cases, said the ruling should ensure the bill's passage.

"This is one of those things that people internationally have been working on and it's a worthwhile and good decision," Pescetta said of the court ruling. "It would be nice if they decided the whole thing (capital punishment) was unconstitutional - but I'm not holding my breath."

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, for the third time has proposed the ban on executions of juveniles. Similar bills passed the Democrat-controlled Assembly twice, but never made it out of the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. Her AB6 would raise the minimum age for capital charges from 16 to 18.

Giunchigliani said she'll push her colleagues to pass her bill "so they can make it clear what the policy is." She added she's pleased but not surprised with the court decision, adding that it focuses in part on new research into how teenagers' brain chemistry affects their decisions.

"I think the science has changed, and I think Nevada is step with the rest of the country," she said.

Richard Siegel, president of the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the Supreme Court ruling indicates the court "is accepting the influence of international law as well as opinions and decisions in the United States."

"Historically people will read this decision as a step in the direction of total abolition," Siegel said, adding that the ACLU "has been fighting for this decision for over 35 years."

Siegel also noted that in Domingues' case, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States, had issued a nonbinding ruling against the Nevada death row inmate's execution.

Ben Graham of the Nevada District Attorneys Association termed the court ruling "just another inroad on prosecutors' ability to seek the death penalty. But we respect what the courts have done and will go on from there."

"We felt that the ability to seek the death penalty for the worst of the worst, even though they may be under 18, was a viable tool," Graham said. "You look at the fact pattern of the one person we have in Nevada and anyone who supports the death penalty could understand why it was given to that person."

Domingues was convicted of the Oct. 22, 1993, murders of Arjin Chanel Pechpho, 24, and her 4-year-old son, Jonathan Smith, at their home in Las Vegas. Domingues, who was 16 at the time, lived next door.

Prosecutors said Domingues, in what began as an attempt to steal a car, forced his way into the home, strangled Pechpho and fatally stabbed her four-year-old son after trying unsuccessfully to electrocute him.

Domingues is one of just three juvenile offenders ever placed on Nevada's death row. The state's Nevada's last execution of a juvenile offender was in 1949. The state Supreme Court rejected his appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court had declined to review his claim that executing those under age 18 violates an international treaty.